I will end ban­ditry if elected Marak­wet East MP – Kil­imo

Anti-FGM Board chair­per­son Li­nah Kil­imo has an­nounced she will run for Marak­wet East MP.

She said she will end ban­ditry in the Ke­rio Val­ley if elected. Kil­imo lost the seat to in­cum­bent Kangogo Bowen in 2013. She said she has the knowl­edge and ex­pe­ri­ence to end ban­ditry, which has claimed at least 14 lives since March and led to the loss of thou­sands of cat­tle.

Kil­imo said there were no re­ported clashes be­tween the Pokot and Marak­wet com­mu­ni­ties dur­ing her two terms as MP be­tween 2002 and 2013. She spoke dur­ing the burial of ban­ditry at­tack vic­tim Ti­tus Kipchumba in Em­bomir town on Satur­day.

Kil­imo said, “We were liv­ing in caves be­fore 2002 be­cause of fre­quent at­tacks by ban­dits. I left in 2013 when you were liv­ing in your houses. To­day we are cry­ing be­cause we are back to liv­ing in caves for fear of at­tacks.” She said she will not sit back and watch residents get at­tacked by crim­i­nals while lead­ers are “asleep on the job”. “Women lead­ers feel the pain of los­ing young peo­ple in the so­ci­ety,” Kil­imo said.